Twentieths to richard x



(No Model.)

' O. E. WHITE.

GAS APPARATUS.

Patented Apr. 10

a w y 7 1 Em A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. WHITE, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF SEVEN- TWENTIETHS TO RICHARD X. DE GRAW, OF SAME PLACE.

GAS APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,910, dated April 10, 1894,

' Application filed August 12, 1893. Serial No. 483,004- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. WHITE, of Kansas City, Jackson county, Missouri, have invented certain newland useful Improvements in Gas Apparatus,of which the followmg is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

My invention relates to the manufacture of to gas for illuminating and fuel purposes, and

has for its object the construction of a retort or casing wherein air may be introduced under low pressure, in proportionate quantities to the heat required, to utilize or burn :5 a large quantity of oil, so as to heat to an incandescence the refractory material within theretort or casing in much less time than it takes by the high-pressure method when atomizers are used, which admit only a limited quantity of air to the retort.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, which form a part of and illustrate this invention,-Figure 1, represents a perspective view of a gas apparatus constructed-in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2, represents a vertical sec- 3 o tional view taken on the line 0c-00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 'y y of Fig. 2. Fig. 4:, represents a vertical sectional view enlarged taken on the line z-z of Fig. 2.

Before entering upon a detail description of the invention, I will state that to accomplish the object of 'my invention, I provide a closed combustion chamber which projects into the body of the retort or casing, and is 40 provided with a vertical wall at its inner ends. Perforatedoil-pipescommunicatewith the front end of the combustion chamber, and

large pipes communicate also with the combustion chamber, at its front end, and are adapted to supply,under pressure from fans or blowers large quantities of air. It will be seen from this construction that the vertical end-wall of the combustion chamber breaks or interrupts the direct draft so that the entire quantity of oil introduced through perforated pipes will be consumed, and without smoke.

In the said drawings, 1 designates a retort or casing which may be of the cylindrical form shown, or of any other suitable or pre- 5 5 ferred form, and this cylindrical retort is formed with a frustum shaped upper end 2, through which is formed a central opening 3. Cast integrally with the top plate of the retort or casing, or secured thereto if desired,

and arranged adjacent to the margin of the opening 3, is a boss or enlargement 4. which projects vertically upward from said plate, and said boss or enlargement is reduced to form the threaded stem 5. Cast integrally 6 5 with the said top-plate, or secured thereto if desired, and also arranged diametrically opposite to the boss or enlargement 4. and near the margin of the opening 3 is an angle bracket 6, whichis recessed or notched at 7. A cap or cover 8 fits upon the top-plate of the casing and closes the opening 3, and is formed with an upwardly projecting stem 9 at its middle which passes through an aperture in theretainer bar or lever 10,'and is engaged at its upper end by a nut 11. This retainer bar or lever is also provided with an aperture near one end which pivotally engages the upwardly projecting stem 5 of the boss 4, and a nut 12 engages the projecting end of said stem and bears upon the upper side of the lever to hold it imposition.

When the cap or cover 8 is in its closed position the retainer bar or lever engages the recess 7 in the angle bracket 6, and a clamping screw 13 passing through the upper portion of said bracket is adapted to impinge firmly upon the upper side of said retainer bar or lever to hold the cap tightly upon or over the opening 3. The retainer bar or lever is also extended at its free end to form a handle portion 14, by which it is grasped when it is desired to slide the cap or cover from over the opening 3. The retort or casing is lined in the usual manner with fire-brick 15, and the 95 upper portion of said fire-brick is formed with a central opening 16 which communicates with the opening 3 in the top-plate. The casing is formed near its lower end with an opening 17, and an annular casting of rectangular shape 10o preferably as shown, marginally surrounds said opening and has its flange 19 bolted to the casing as shown, and the annular casing 18 is also formed with an outwardly extending annular flange 20. The lining or firebrick is also extended outwardly as at 21 to the outer margin or side of the annular casing 18. A rectangular plate of similar size, is secured by bolts passing through the flange 20, to and closes the outer end of the annular casing 18, and this plate or casting 22 is also provided with the ourwardly projecting annular wall 23, the space inclosed by this wall being preferably oblong rectangular, and in length about equal to the distance between the inner sides of the extensions 21 of the lining. The rectangular space formed by the annular wall 23 is divided by a vertical partition 24 into two compartments 25-25, and openings 26 are formed centrally through the plate 22 and communicate one with each compartment 25. A rectangular plate 27 is now screwbolted at 28 to the annular flange 23 so as to close the outer end of the compartment 25, and said plate 27 is formed with a pair of openings or holes which are adapted to be closed by plugs 29. These holes I shall term hereinafter the lighting-holes and serve for the introduction of a torch or taper to start the fire. The side-extensions 21 of the lining are extended inwardly for a suitable distance as shown at 30, and the rear ends of said walls are connected by a vertical endwall 31, the upper end of which is flangedinwardly for a suitable distance as shown at 32.

" The upper horizontal portion of the extension 21 of the lining is also extended inwardly as shown at 33 to within aslight distance of the flanged portion 32 of the end-wall 31,the said wall 33 occupying preferably a slightly lower plane than the flanged portion 32 of the endwall, so as to form a narrow passage or opening 34. It will be seen that these extensions 30, 31 and 33 of the lining taken in conjunction with the bottom lining of the retort form a combustion chamber 35 and this combustion chamber communicates through the openings 26 with the compartments or chambers 25. Extending vertically upward from the lower horizontal portion of the extension 21 of the lining, and extendinginwardly a slight distance from the inner side of the plate 22. is a guide-wall of fire-brick 36; this guidewall being of width about equal to space between the adjacent ends of the openings 26 of the plate 22. This guide-wall is designed to prevent the commingling of the oil and air passing through the openings 26 until it is well on its way toward the rear or inner end of the combustion chamber. The interior of the retort or casing is built up with the usual checker-work of refractory material, this refractory material extending upwardly to within a suitable distance of the upper end of the retort, and arranged at its lower end so as to form a radially extending passage 38 which communicates with the gas-outlet pipe 39, said pipe 39 leading to a water-seal 40 of the usual construction, and a pipe 41 leads from this water seal to a holder or to service as required. Communicating with the interior of the retort or casing above the upper end of the checker-work are the steam and oil inlet pipes 42 and 43 respectively, and these pipes are controlled by the usual quick opening valves 44. Passing through the vertical side portions of the annular flange 23 and communicating with the compartments or chambers 25 are the oil supply pipes 45, and these oil-supply pipes are provided in their inner faces with a series of perforations or apertures 46, these apertures being arranged opposite and adjacent to the openings 26 of the plate22, and the inner ends of said pipes are closed by plugs 47. The pipes 45 are also controlled by suitable valves 48. A pair of large pipes 49 communicate witha fan or blower (not shown) and also communicate with the compartments or chambers 25 by passing vertically through the upper horizontal portion of the annular flange 23, and these air-pipes are also provided with the quick opening valves 50.

The operation of manufacturing the gas is as follows: The cap or cover 8 is first moved laterally to leave the opening '3 exposed, and the valves 50 controlling the supply of air. and the valves 48 controlling the supply of oil are opened to allow the oil and air to enter the combustion chamber. One orboth of the plugs 29 are now opened and a torch is introduced into the compartments 25 to start the fire. The large quantity of air thus admitted to the combustion chamber passing inward with the burning oil impinges or strikes against the vertical end wall of said chamber, which by thus breaking or interrupting the direct draft gives the oxygen from the air suflicient time to entirely consume the oil so that the heat thus generated rises up through the refractory material without smoke. It will be seen by thus supplying a large quantity of air and thereby thoroughly consuming the oil that the refractory material is heated to an incandescent state in much less time than it takes where an insufficient supply of airis provided. As soon as the refractory material is heated to the proper degree the supply of oil to the pipes 45 and air through the pipes 49 is cut olf, and the lover or retaining bar 10 is operated to close the draft opening The valves 44 are now operated to allow the steam and oil to enter the retort through the pipes 42 and 43 and descends upon the highly heated refractory material. The steam and oil admitted through the pipes 42 and 43 as it comes in contact with the highly heated refractory material is decomposed to produce the usual hydrocarbon gas which escapes through the pipes 39, passes through the water seal, and thence passes through the pipe 41 to a holder or to service.

Itis to be understood that I do not confine IIO myself to one or any particular number of combustion chambers, as the number of combustion chambers will vary in retorts of different capacity.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. An apparatus for manufacturing fuel or illuminating gas, comprising a retort or casing having a draft out-let opening, and a combustion chamber having a vertical wall at its inner end, and a passage opening up communication between the combustion chamber and the interior of the retort or casing, and a plate fitting across the outer end of the combustion chamber and provided with an opening, and acompartment or chamber communieating with the combustion chamber through said opening, an oil-pipe projectinginto said compartment or chamber, and adapted to spray oil through said opening, and an airpipe also communicating with said compartment or chamber, substantially as set forth.

2. An apparatus for manufacturing fuel or illuminating gas, comprising a retort or casing having a discharge opening in its upper end, and acap or cover therefor, acombustion chamber extending into the interior of the retort or casing and having a vertical wall at its inner end and having a flange projecting horizontally and toward the front end of the combustion chamber from the upper edge or margin of said vertical wall, and having the top-wall of the said chamber extending to about the end of said flange, but in a lower horizontal plane, so as to form a space therebetween, and an oil-pipe and an air-pipe communicating with the front end of said combustion chamber, substantially as set forth.

3. An apparatus for manufacturing fuel or illuminating gas, comprising a retort or casing provided with a draft-opening in its upper end, and a checker-work of refractory with openings, and a vertical guide wall erected in the outer end of said chamber and between said openings, a compartment or chamber communicating with the outer end of the combustion chamber at each side of sa d guide-wall, and through said openings, an 011- pipe projecting into each compartment or chamber and provided with a series of perforations opposite said openings, and an all? pipe also communicating with said compartments or chambers, substantially as set forth. 4. An apparatus for manufacturing fuel or illuminating gas, comprising a retort or casing provided with a draft-opening in its upper end, and a checker-work of refractory material, a combustion chamber communicating near itsinner end with the interior of the retort or casing, a plate fitting across the outer end of the combustion chamber and provided with openings, and avertical guide wall erected in the outer end of said chamber and between said openings,a compartment orchamber communicating with the outer end of the combustion chamber at each side of said guidewall, and through said openings, an oil-plpe projecting into each compartment or chamber and provided with a series of perforatlons opposite said openings, and an air-pipe also communicating with said compartments or chambers, and lighting-holes communicating with said compartments or chambers, and removable plugs closing said holes, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- CHARLES E. WHITE.

Witnesses:

MAUD FITZPATRIOK, M. P. SMITH. 

